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USI Women’s Golf captures pair of wins at Midwest Match Play Championship

Evansville/Henderson/Sebree / WREF The REF
Chris Staples
Sep 2, 2026 | 2:24 PM


Preston Leinenbach, USI Athletic Communication

JACKSON, Mich. – University of Southern Indiana Women’s Golf opened its 2026-27 campaign by securing a pair of wins this week at the Midwest Match Play Championship at The Grande Golf Club in Jackson, Michigan.
 
Ultimately finishing as the championship runner-up, the Screaming Eagles went 2-1-0 in their three matches against the University of Illinois Chicago, University of Detroit Mercy, and host Purdue University Fort Wayne.
 
USI came up just short in its opening match on Monday against UIC, 3.5-2.5, before locking down a convincing 4.5-1.5 win against Detroit Mercy in the afternoon swing. USI closed out the event on Tuesday with a 3.5-2.5 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.
 
Match #1 vs. UIC (UIC 3.5-2.5 USI)
In Monday’s opening match against the UIC Flames, junior Brianna Kirsch earned half a point for the Screaming Eagles after coming back from 2-down following the first couple of holes on the back nine.
 
Freshman Kaidyn Wardlaw looked impressive in her USI debut with a win in her individual match, 6 & 4. Wardlaw quickly jumped out to a 4-up advantage through the first five holes, which included three birdies. The freshman added to her lead with birdies at holes nine and 10, and later clinched the win after hole 14.
 
Sophomore McKenna Lowe won her opening match, 3 & 2, in a close battle early. Lowe’s match was all square through hole 13 before she won three consecutive holes to seal the win. Lowe carded a clutch birdie on 15 before clinching on the 16th hole.
 
Match #2 vs. UDM (USI 4.5-1.5 UDM)
USI controlled most of its Monday afternoon match against Detroit Mercy, earning points in five of the six player matches.
 
Kirsch went 1-down early but quickly bounced back in the middle holes of the front nine. The junior birdied hole eight to grab a two-hole cushion, and then after the turn, Kirsch won three straight holes to go 4-up and held the lead the rest of the way for the 4 & 3 win.
 
Junior Elizabeth Mercer split the points after a back-and-forth affair in her individual match. Mercer was 1-down going into the final hole, and on hole 18, she sank her fourth birdie of the round to draw even and earn half a point for USI.
 
Following another win by Wardlaw, senior Tora Timinsky added a head-to-head win, 4 & 2. After a close match through the first eight holes, Timinsky built a 3-up advantage by taking holes nine through 11. A birdie on 11 gave the senior the three-hole lead. Timinsky clinched the match on the 16th hole.
 
Junior Fernanda Vera earned the final point of the day for the Screaming Eagles, birdieing two of the first four holes and jumping out to a 3-up lead in the early stages. While the difference shrunk to one after hole eight, Vera took back control and did not look back. The junior clinched the deal by going 5-up on the 14th hole for the 5 & 4 victory.
 
Match #3 vs. PFW (PFW 2.5-3.5 USI)
Mercer provided USI with its first win on Tuesday against the host Mastodons, as the junior was steady in her head-to-head match. Mercer led by one after the first three holes and later increased her advantage to 3-up after a birdie on six and a par on seven. Mercer essentially put the match away by winning three straight on holes nine through 11 to go 6-up and later clinched the victory, 6 & 5.
 
Wardlaw continued her stellar USI debut with a third win on Tuesday. The freshman flipped the score in her favor with a birdie on the ninth hole and doubled up to a 2-up lead after 10. After dropping hole 11, Wardlaw answered by winning holes 12-14 with three straight pars and then clinching the match win on the 15th hole, 4 & 3.
 
Timinsky earned half a point in her match before Lowe came through with the go-ahead point for the Screaming Eagles to conclude the day. After being 1-down after the first hole, Lowe responded by winning the next three holes, including two birdies, to grab a 2-up lead. After a seesaw stretch in the middle of the match, Lowe carried a one-hole advantage into the 17th hole. The sophomore delivered by taking hole 17 and clinching the match, 2 & 1.
 
USI’s second win in the four-team competition gave the Screaming Eagles a second-place finish in the match-play event.
 
Next, following a brief break during the Labor Day weekend, USI Women’s Golf returns to action September 14-15 at the Brittany Kelly Classic, hosted by Ball State University. The tournament will take place at The Players Club at Woodland Trails in Yorktown, Indiana.